


Growing Up (Blood Gulch Blues)

by orphan_account



Series: Growing, Growing, Grown [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-20 12:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14261316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It starts, as most things do, under the weeping willow. It starts, as many things do, with a Plan. It starts, as a lot of things do, with June Tucker, and Leonard Church, and Michael J. Caboose.In a tiny city(city? It's probably too small to be a city, right?) called Blood Gulch, there's a high school whose mascot is a colour. The Blood Gulch Blues. (It's a stupid name. Everyone is aware it's a stupid name. Do they change the name? No. Because they're idiots.)This is a story about what starts as two (and rapidly becomes toogoddamn many) people who live there, and how they grow up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Project, Let Me Tell You. It will be abandoned and picked up every five minutes, so be prepared for that. Also, I, a red, have been forced to write these filthy blues first?? And I???? Will sue. But like. Please be nice to me, I am but a simple nonbinary boi whomst has no Fucking Clue what they're doing. [Or don't be nice, but Beware, I'm still good with knives.]

They’re five and it starts, as most things will, under the weeping willow. It starts, as many things will, with a Plan. It starts, as a lot of things will, with June Tucker and Leonard Church. 

Leo grins. “Bet I can hit that guy.” June snorts, multicoloured hair clips clicking as she shakes her head. “You couldn’t hit _me_ with that thing.” Leo squints, hugging the nerf gun to his chest. “Shut up.” June nudges his shoulder hard. “That’s not nice! The Director is gonna kill you.” Leo sticks his tongue out. “He’s not The Director, he’s my dad!” June shrugs, and plops down into the grass. “Just saying. He’s kinda scary.”

(Leo misses the man by several feet. June laughs. Leo misses June, too, several feet away. June laughs harder.)

•°•°•

It starts, as many things will, with a Plan. It starts, as a lot of things will, with Leonard Church.

“Carolina! Carolina!” Leo is seven, and Carolina is four, and she’s his little sister, and he has to pick her up from preschool. His dad is in the parking lot, and he was being too slow, so now Leo has to get her.

Carolina finds him, and she brings along a curly-headed three-year-old who looks at Leo like he hung the stars. “This is Mikey,” says Carolina, and Mikey waves. “Hey, Mikey.” Mikey smiles so big Leo thinks his face might crack. 

“Hello! Yes! You are Church!” Leo wrinkles his eyebrows. “That’s my last name.” Mikey nods, grin still in place, gap teeth still shining. “And my last name is Caboose! And my middle name is J!” Carolina nods like this makes perfect sense. Leo shrugs. “Do you want me to call you Caboose?” 

Mikey frowns and looks at his bright blue shoes. “Well, it might be confusing, because I am mostly called Mike! Or Mikey. Or sometimes, when I am in trouble, I am called Michael.”  
He shudders. “I do not like it when people call me Michael.” Leo pats his new friend’s shoulder. “Well, I won’t call you that.” Mikey grins so big Leo’s almost blinded. 

“Leonard!” He and his little sister are scooped up into their dad’s arms. “Don’t run off like that, Leonard!” Leo pouts. “But I didn’t run off! I walked off!” Their mom laughs. “He has a point, honey.” Their dad smiles softly at her. It’s gross, and Leo makes a face.

(Allison smiles at her son and at her daughter, and she smirks at her husband. Leo has a lot of his dad in him, and Carolina has a lot of them both. It makes her happy- Leonard was so nervous about raising a child. But they’re happy and loving, and she feels a slight pride in them. _See?_ That pride says. _I can be in the army and have a loving family. Get fucked._ )

°•°•°

They’re nine and a half and it starts, as most things will, under the weeping willow. It starts, as a lot of things will, with June Tucker and Leonard Church.

“Do you think I could bring someone else, next time?” June shrugs. “I don’t really care, Leo.” Leo pouts. “Come on, Junie.” She wrinkles her nose. “Don’t call me that! It makes me sound like I’m five.” Leo thinks, for half a second, about telling her that the someone else he’s bringing is only six. He decides against it.

•°•°•

They’re twelve and a half (and nine) and it starts, as most things do, under the weeping willow. It starts, as many things do, with a Plan. It starts, as a lot of things do, with June Tucker, and Leonard Church, and Michael J. Caboose.

“Uh. Guys?” Caboose looks over at Junie. “Yes? We are listening.” Junie coughs and twirls her locs because she started wearing her hair in locs and they are easy to twirl when she is nervous. 

Caboose wonders what she is nervous about. Sure, Caboose is a little jealous because she and Church have been friends longer, but she’s pretty okay, and Caboose will never hate her because that would make Church sad. And Caboose is Church’s best friend! So Caboose can’t do anything to make Church sad. He just can’t. 

“I. Uh. I’m a guy.” Church looks up from his homework and takes out an earbud. “You’re what?” Junie fidgets with more of her- his? -hair. “I’m a boy. Like you two. And uh. My mom knows, and everything, and she asked if I wanted a different name, because I’m a boy, and June isn’t a boy’s name, and I said I did, so she said that she would have given me the name Lavernius if I had been born a guy, so. Uh. Yeah.” 

Caboose nods and sits back on his heels. “Can I call you Tucker?” Tucker(?) blinks, and nods. Caboose cheers. “Hooray! Now we all go by our last names! And it is not just me!” He thinks. “And Church, but only I call him Church.” Tucker(!) laughs. “Yeah, Caboose. Now we can all go by our last names.” 

Church shrugs. “This doesn’t really change anything, Ju- uh, Tucker. Just means I’ll have to make sure to stop getting you pink bullshit.” Tucker snorts. “You should’ve stopped getting me pink bullshit in like, fourth grade.” Caboose perks up. “I am in fourth grade!” They both laugh, and Church pulls him closer in a side-hug. “Yeah, you are, buddy. You are.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here i am. back on my bullshit. there is some mention of underage sex in here, but it was consensual. tucker was just a Dumb Boi who wasn't thinking and agreed, "yeah! no condom will be fine! everything will be great!" and then he got pregnant. way to go, dumbass. u don't even have a dick yet and you're already thinking with the wrong head. there's also some Death, because im an asshole who cant let these friends be happy. it's allison prime, btw, not any of the kiddos. ALRIGHT. on with the bullshit.

They’re on summer break and it starts, as most things do, under the weeping willow. It starts, as a lot of things do, with Lavernius Tucker and Leonard Church and Michael J. Caboose. It starts, as too many things will, with tears.

Tucker is sobbing into Church’s chest, and Caboose (bigger than both of them) has the older boys wrapped in a colossal hug. “It is okay, Tucker. You will be okay.” Tucker doesn’t feel like it will be. Church has his arms around his friend, and he knows that won’t make everything better, but he wants to help. 

“I don’t- that fucker got me pregnant!” It’s between sobs and muffled in Church’s shirt, but Caboose still makes it out. “You’re going to have a baby?” He pauses. “ _Are_ you going to have a baby?” Tucker sobs harder, and Church squeezes his arms around him. “I- fuck, I don’t know.”

(Tucker decides to have the baby. He says that he’ll make Church the godfather if he decides to keep it. Church claps him on the shoulder. “You’d be a great dad, Tucker.” Tucker wipes his happy-tears on his own shirt.)

•°•°•

(Tucker keeps the baby, who he names Lavernius Tucker Junior. Everyone calls him Junior, and he’s a happy baby. Church is worried about him, Caboose is _not_ allowed to hold him, and Tucker is amazed that this is _his kid._ Caboose tells Junior bedtime stories. Church tries to teach him to swear. Tucker gets up and feeds him in the middle of the night, so he better be the favourite when Junior’s old enough to have favourites.)

°•°•°

They’re sophomores (and middle schoolers) and it starts, as most things do, under the weeping willow. It starts, as a lot of things do, with Carolina and Leonard Church and Lavernius Tucker and Michael J. Caboose. It starts, as too many things will, with tears.

Not from Carolina, though. She has her mom’s- well. _Her_ walking stick in her hand and she’s leaning back against the trunk of the tree. Church is screaming. He’s wailing, and Caboose feels his heart breaking. Tucker rubs his back soothingly. “Well. At least she-“ Church snaps, “If you tell me my mom is in a better place now, I will fucking- I’ll-“ He can’t finish the sentence.

“At least she knew how much you love her,” Caboose says, but he is very careful not to be too loud. Church is sad, so he needs to help. It is what bestfriends do for each other.

Church cries harder.

Carolina punches the tree trunk so hard there’s a dent in the place where Allison had carved her initials. It dents the “+ LC”, too.

(Carolina goes home to bandage her fist.)  
(Church cries.)  
(Caboose gives hugs and lullabies.)  
(Tucker tries to lighten the mood, but-

he really can’t help with this.)

•°•°•

David Washington breaks every pattern they’ve set up.  
He doesn’t meet them under the weeping willow.  
He doesn’t meet them as the result of a Plan.  
Hell, he just shows up in Tucker’s French class and doesn’t say anything.  
It’s all wrong.  
But they aren’t kids anymore, and they’re growing out of patterns.

Which is why, when David asks,  
“June, right?”

Tucker responds,  
“Lavernius, actually. But _you_ can call me anytime.”

(Church thinks Tucker’s flirting is, quote, _fucking hilarious._ Caboose thinks it means he gets to flirt with people, which goes better than you’d think. A girl named Sheila smiles at him without an ounce of pity, so Caboose thinks they’re destined to be together. David usually just stares at him, before going back to conjugations.)

°•°•°

(Wash blushes pink every time Tucker flirts with him. Even when the lines are bad. And for the most part- it is bad. If Wash never hears the words “bow chicka bow wow” again, it will be way too soon.)

•°•°•

It starts.

Let’s just leave it there.

It starts, and Tucker notices he’s falling head over heels for Wash.  
It starts, and Church notices the girl with blonde hair and pale skin and black everything else.  
It starts, and Caboose notices that his friends are falling away from him.  
It starts, and Carolina notices the way her father is distant.  
It starts, and Wash notices he might have a thing for Tucker.

It starts.

°•°•°

It starts, as many things do, with a Plan. It starts, as a lot of things will, with Leonard Church and a mystery girl.

“Hey. I’m Church.” She doesn’t even stop working on her trig homework. “Tex.” He nods. “Can I sit here?” She grunts ambiguously. He sits next to her. 

Nothing else happens.

•°•°•

It starts, as most things do, under the weeping willow tree. It starts, as many things do, with a Plan. It starts, as a lot of things will, with Carolina Church and Michael J. Caboose. 

“Do you want to fight?” Carolina looks up. The younger boy is staring at her, his mop of curls getting into his big brown eyes. “Why?” Caboose shrugs and sits down cross-legged on the ground. “Well, you are always very angry, which makes you very scary, and whenever Washingtub is angry, he likes to fight! And if you fight, then you will not be scary anymore!” He pauses. “Which will be good.” He whispers, “I do not like it when you are scary.” Carolina laughs. 

She and Caboose were friends first. She introduced him to her big brother when Caboose was only three, and when she was only four, and they got along well.

They’ve lost touch.

“I’m not good at fighting, Caboose.” He smiles at her. “Oh good. Neither am I!” She grins. “Okay, tell you what.” She holds up her hand, palm out, fingers flat. “Punch my hand as hard as you can.” Caboose draws back a fist and punches her hand. 

Carolina wasn’t expecting him to be this strong. “Fuck! Ow, goddamn!” His determined face drops, and he takes her hand gently. “It is not my fault. You said to hit really hard.” She hisses and examines her hand. It’s red and throbbing, but she can still feel it. “It isn’t your fault, I underestimated you.” He looks sorry, but he doesn’t say it. Carolina understands.

She joins a mixed martial arts class and works twice as hard as anyone else.  
By the end of the summer, she’s learned how to use Caboose’s size and strength against him.  
(He still wins half the time when the two of them spar, but at the beginning, he won every time.)

°•°•°

It starts, as many things do, with a Plan. It starts, as a lot of things will, with Leonard Church and Tex.

“Why do you always sit with me?” He shrugs, not looking up from his homework. “I dunno. You seemed interesting.” She snorts. “You think I’m hot.” He sputters, and when he looks up, she’s smirking. “It’s fine, Church. You’re not so bad yourself.” He sputters some more, and she laughs. 

He’s still stammering like an idiot when she leans in for a kiss.

(Church starts calling her his girlfriend. Tex doesn’t really care for that label, but she’s also not so against it that she corrects him. Wash, who knows her, is kind of amazed. Quote, _Dating Tex? How does that... even work?_ Caboose is jealous and scared of her in equal measure. Carolina doesn’t like her because Caboose doesn’t. Tucker says one pickup line to her, and she sprains his wrist.

Church only loves her more.)

(Tex isn’t quite sure how to feel about the blues.)

(She thinks she likes them.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, now yall dirty fuckin blues have to wait eighty-three goddamn years for me to get any possible way out of writer's block for this. rip.
> 
> Rat's Nest Reds oughtta be updating soon though. like. within the next three hours soon. prepare for gay shit. and trans shit. because i am going to rub my grubby little pansexual+agender hands all over the canonical heterosexual+cisgender bullshit.
> 
> im on tumblr @toquotesimmons-suckit

**Author's Note:**

> whomst the fuck allowed me to make a multi-chapter thing with complex, interesting characters?? because it sure wasn't me, i should not be allowed to do any of this shit. in conclusion, F U C K.


End file.
